Lent

Lent is a 40 day period of fasting and spiritual exercise in the run-up to Easter (Pascha). 

Lent originally began as a period of preparation for those due to be baptised, and so was kept by those in the final stages of preparing for full initiation into the Christian church. It was then extended to include all Christians. Lent has been observed by Christians since something like the 200s. Until a generation or so ago, Lent was widely observed in the Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches in the western world. It continues to be observed by committed individuals, and in more traditional heartlands of Christianity, as well as by the Eastern Orthodox Churches.  

In more recent times, Lent has been practised in the western world in more limited ways. People might choose to "give up" something for Lent, such as sugar or maybe use of certain mass media. Others might attend courses during Lent, directing their energy towards Christian learning. It is not uncommon for people to attend the inaugural Ash Wednesday service at the start of the the Lenten season, and to be ceremonially marked with ash on their forehead, a traditional mark of repentance (cf. "repent in sackcloth and ashes"). 

For many of those reading this post, Lent may feel a somewhat alien and potentially unhelpful concept outside our experience and practice of the Christian faith. Keeping Lent is not a practice specifically commanded by Scripture, and indeed in Zurich, at the time of the Reformation, it became a focus for protest. While you may not choose to keep Lent, you might see this practice in a more favourable light as you find out more about its history and meaning.

The central idea of Lent is a period of preparation. That would have been the case for baptismal candidates as they prepared to be baptised; during the final weeks before their baptism (the baptism would have taken place during the Easter weekend, typically during the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday), they fasted, they repented of sin, and meditated on the truths of the gospel. It would also have been true also keeping the fast, but who had already been initiated into the Christian faith. The latter were/are invited to recall their baptism and what it means, recommitting their lives to Christ on annual basis.  

In terms of dietary rules, during Lent certain foods are removed from the diet of those observing the fast, chiefly all meat, eggs, dairy products and fish in any form. Also, during Lent, those keeping the fast should limit their food intake to only one full meal after 12 noon plus two smaller meals per day. At the present time, only Ash Wednesday (in 2024, this falls on Wednesday 14 February) and Good Friday (29 March 2024) are obligatory days of fasting for most Roman Catholics. In older times, these dietary restrictions applied to all six days of the week, except Sunday, which was a day of feasting - even during Lent! More details of fasting rules/customs can be found here: Lenten fasting in Eastern Orthodoxy; Lenten fasting in Roman Catholicism. Almsgiving (charitable giving) is also part of Lent; in some cases, people can choose to give to charity money saved as a result of a more restricted diet. 

The aim of Lent is to refocus on God and salvation in Christ, "tuning out" the world, and earthly demands. Fasting must be accompanied by repentance and kindness, obedience to Christ's commands and reconciliation, rather than just a formal observance of restrictions. Fasting is never an end in and of itself, and it culminates in the feast of the resurrection, Easter - a cause for great joy.